Rent records for the Atholl Estate

The rent records for the Atholl Estate provide a picture of the relationships between landlord, tenants and their neighbours.

In 1802, Charles Gow rented Tighmore for £25 a year. In 1816, his widow passed the running of the farm to Duncan and John Robertson. The records show that the brothers made complaints because the two sub-tenants, Duncan McDonald and James Robertson, refused to flit to let the brothers move in.

The caretaker of the Atholl Estate recorded other squabbles. It was often difficult to know who was in the right or telling the truth.

Gascan and Tighnacoile tenants shared common pasture land for their animals to graze. Alex and Donald Robertson of Gascan complained that their neighbours turned dogs on their animals, while James Wilson of Tighnacoile claimed that their animals were on his land and that the Gascan people had driven his family off the pasture "by stoning them nearly to death".

The views of the estate were also represented in the records, through comments about the characters of the tenants, for example: